John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"There are, indeed, many who doubt whether happiness is increased by civilization, and who talk of the free and noble savage. But the true savage is neither free nor noble; he is the cold by night and the heat of the sun by day; ignorant of agriculture, living by the chase, and improvident in success, hunger always stares him in the face, and often drives him to the dreadful alternative of cannibalism or death." --Prehistoric Times (1865) by John Lubbock |
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John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury PC, FRS (30 April 1834 – 28 May 1913), known as Sir John Lubbock, 4th Bt from 1865 until 1900, was an English banker, biologist, archaeologist and Liberal politician.
Lubbock in biology and archaeology
In 1865 Lubbock published what was possibly the most influential archaeological text book of the 19th Century, Pre-historic times, as illustrated by ancient remains, and the manners and customs of modern savages. He invented the terms Palaeolithic and Neolithic to denote the Old and New Stone Ages respectively, but more notable was his introduction of a Darwinian view of human nature. "What was new was Lubbock's... insistence that, as a result of natural selection, human groups had become different from each other, not only culturally, but also in their biological capacities to utilize culture".
Lubbock felt he had a justifiable complaint against Charles Lyell:
- "Note.—In his celebrated work on the Antiquity of Man, Sir Charles Lyell has made much use of my earlier articles in the Natural History Review, frequently, indeed, extracting whole sentences verbatim, or nearly so. But as he has in these cases omitted to mention the source from which his quotations were derived, my readers might naturally think that I had taken very unjustifiable liberties with the work of the eminent geologist. A reference to the respective dates will, however, protect me from any such inference. The statement made by Sir Charles Lyell, in a note to page 11 of his work, that my article on the Danish Shell-mounds was published after Ms sheets were written, is an inadvertence, regretted, I have reason to believe, as much by its author as it is by me." Preface to Pre-historic times.
Lubbock was also an amateur biologist of some distinction, writing books on hymenoptera (Ants, Bees and Wasps: a record of observations on the habits of the social hymenoptera. Kegan Paul, London; New York: Appleton, 1884.), on insect sense organs and development, on the intelligence of animals, and on other natural history topics. He was a member of the famous X Club founded by T.H. Huxley to promote the growth of science in Britain. He discovered that ants were sensitive to the ultraviolet range of the spectrum
The Punch verse of 1882 captured him perfectly:
- How doth the Banking Busy Bee
- Improve his shining Hours?
- By studying on Bank Holidays
- Strange insects and Wild Flowers!
[[File:Large holland diplodocus.jpg|thumb|left|Lord Avebury speaking during the presentation of the first replica of D. carnegii to the trustees of the British Museum of Natural History, 12 May 1905]] He carried out extensive correspondence with Charles Darwin, who lived nearby in Downe. Lubbock stayed in Downe except for a brief period from 1861–1865, when he moved to Chislehurst. Both men were active advocates of English spelling reform, and members of the Spelling reform Association, precursor to the (Simplified) Spelling Society.Template:Citation needed Darwin rented ground, originally from Lubbock's father, for the Sandwalk wood where he took his daily exercise, and in 1874 reached agreement with Lubbock to exchange the land for a piece of pasture in Darwin's property. When Darwin died in 1882, Lubbock suggested the honour of burial in Westminster Abbey, organising a letter to the Dean to arrange this, and was one of the pallbearers.
